Alpha Iota Service Projects
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| Smile for the camera at Boo at the Zoo |
***American Red Cross- is one of our service
partner. We will be donating blood and helping them organize a blood drive.
***MADD- MADD is one of our service
partners. Last year we organized an alcohol awareness week with sober games such as rootbeer pong. We also played Mario race
cart with beer goggles on, had the police lead us in several sobriety tests, sold breathalyzers as a fundraiser, had a question.answer
session with the police, and watched 28 days whihc is a movie about rehab. This year we plan to do some events with MADD
such as a pledge dive to pledge that you will not let your friends drink and drive.
***PAVSA- Take back the night. Our
girls join a march to raise awareness about women who have been abused or sexually assaulted.
***American Cancer Society- is a service
partner. We participate in Relay for Life which is an all night walk to raise funds and awareness for cancer, survivors and
victims.
***Clothing Drive with Alpha Phi Omega-
we ask for clothing donations and give them to the local homeless shelter for children and adults who are in need of warmer
clothing for the winter.
***Bulldog Bash- Gamma Sigma Sigma
and other Greek organization greet freshman and help them move their things into their dorms and get situated.
***Chris Jensen's Rehabilitation Center:
For each season
or holiday, we decorate the halls, dining rooms, and entry ways of the nursing hone. You will have the opportunity to play
bingo with the residents, and help with special activities and celebrations. Throughout the year we make cards for the residents
of Chris Jensen's for the holidays such as Halloween and Valentine's Day. One of our favorite events is Christmas
Caroling. Our girls are joined iwth men from different fraternities to brighten the residents' holidays with our (ahem)
beautiful voices!
***Chum: Chum is the local food
shelf which regularly gets large shipments of canned and boxed goods. We go in as a group to weigh, sort, and organize the
food. We will also be going to the Chum once a month to help with various cleaning and organization tasks. On Halloween
we go trick or treating for canned goods with the men of Phi Kappa Psi and donate all of the food to Chum In addition we will
hold one food drive a semester and help with the SHARE project where we pick up food from the porches of homes in the neighborhood.
***Hockey Babies:
Display UMD hockey teams players' baby photos to be voted on by the Duluth community. Money raised goes to the make a
wish foundation. We also sell bracelets and go to the hockey games to show school spirit. This is a semester long project
and we will be working with various organization to help raise more money.
***Northern Lakes Food Bank: This Projects
is a blast. We make food care packages to be sent out to senior citizens, women, and children. It is assembly line style
and we much pack 700 boxes as fast as we can ( we always have a race to see if we can beat out previous time!). Then afterwards,
the volunteer coordinators feed you (something like pizza and subway). Northern Lakes Food Bank also holds a fund raiser
called Empty Bowl where various types of soup. We also go to the main office of Northern Lakes Food Bank and help send out
mass mailings to the community. Salvation Army: Each holiday season we adopt-a-family from the Salvation Army and raise
funds o by them things that they cannot afford in order to give them a happy and enjoyable Christmas. Throughout the holiday
season we also bell ring outside of local organization to raise donations for the salvation army.
***Salvation Army's
Adopt-A-Family: The Salvation Army has sponsored an Adopt-A-Family Program in our community for over 10 years.
The Adopt a Family program matches families in need of Christmas gifts, clothing and food for Christmas with families,
individuals, or organizations who are willing to help. Those people who are willing to adopt a family in need are called "sponsors".
The Adopt a Family Program gives Sponsors the opportunity to help make Christmas more meaningful for their adopted family. Every
year the ladies of Gamma Sigma Sigma become sponsors for a family in need. The sorority volunteers thoughout the
fall semester to raise money to help the family. When Christmas season draws near we collect all the money we have raised
for our family and go out shopping for gifts, food, and other items to help make their holiday season brighter.
***Alzheimer's Memory Walk: Gamma
Sigma Sigma will pair up with the gentlemen of Tau Kappa Epsilon to set up for the event, run activities during the walk,
and clean up afterward.
***Special Olympic: Throughout the
year we help with various special Olympic sports. In the past we have helped with bowling tournament and swim meets. The
competitors are so much fun to get to know, and it's very rewarding to hand out trophies and ribbons to them at the end
of the event.
| Walking out Toochy's off at walk-a-thon |
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***Walk-a-Thon: TKES and Sigs join
forces to raise money for a cause of their choice each year. We then host a 24 hour walk-a-thon on track at UMD. At least
4 girls and 4 boys hace to be walking the entire time. We get free food at the event, t-shirts, and it's a great time
to bond with sister and the gentlemen of Tau Kappa Epsilon.
***Buddy Walk: Buddy Walk is an event
put on by the National Down Syndrome Association. IT is held at Bayfront Park. Gamma Sigma Sigma and the men of Alpha Phi
Omega help with set-up, registration, take down, face painting, and other tasks throughout this event.
***Girl Power: Girl Power is group
of girls ages 9-15 who meet every day in an after school. We will be meeting with them once a month do a project such as an
art project, games, or activities in the community.
***UMD Safewalk: Safewalk is our longest running and most time consuming service project. We partner with the guys of
AFW
to provide a safe escort to students and faculty. We accompany people to their cars, their dorms, apartments, etc..anywhere
within a two mile radius of campus. The office is located in Safewalk Office. We are open from 8pm until Midnight,
Sunday through Thursday. Two girls and two guys staff each shift.
GSS requires us to do two safewalks
per semester. Pledges must do at least one during their pledge period with their Big Sis.
Click Here for more information
***Lake Superior
Zoo: Gamma Sigma Sigma is a huge part of the success of Boo at the Zoo. Many of our girls (and some fraternity members) set
up and decorate the zoo for a Halloween Theme. On the day of the event, we dress up in costume, take tickets, lead the hayride,
help with crowd control, and pass out candy to the children who trick-or-treat at the zoo. The gentlemen of Alpha
Phi Omega and Tau Kappa Epsilon also join us for this event. This year our sister from other chapters in the district and
alumni chapters will be joining us for this project. Gamma Sigma Sigma also helps with the Easter Egg Hunt at the zoo. We
decorate, do face painting, and dress up in the zoo's animal costumes to greet children at the event. This year will
also be helping with the New Year's Eve event at the zoo.
***Adopt-a-Highway: Gamma Sigma Sigma has
adapted a two-mile stretch of highway near Duluth which we go out and clean three times throughout the year. A project which
is similar is All City Clean up where our girls are assigned an area of the city to clean up litter.
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| The Pumpkin Boyfriend at Boo at the Zoo |
***Light a Little Star: is an event put on by March of Dimes to raise funds and awareness
about premature children and birth defect. March of Dimes is one of our service partner. At this even we will help with
set up activities, and take down. The money goes towards research and helping families with premature babies.
***All Community Sleep out: is to raise awareness for homelessness.
It is very cold, but a great bonding opportunity with our sisters! We huddle together all night and play games and talk.
We also get to learn about the problems and seriousness of being homeless.
***Safe Haven: is a shelter for battered
women and children. We will be going once a month to do a project with the residence there. It may be an art or a cooking
activity. In the past we have made cookies with the kids and scrap books with mothers.
***Damiano Soup Kitchen: Once a month the ladies of GSS go to the
local soup kitchen to prepare, cook, and serve food to hungry people in the community who cannot afford to feed themselves.
***CP Dance: is a fun October event. Gamma Sigma Sigma and Alpha
Phi Omega dress up and go to Central High School to dance with community member and students who are affect by ceberal palsy.
This project is so rewarding and fun. We all have a great time doing the Bunny Hop and Hokey Pokey! :)
***John Beargrease Sled Dog Race: The girls of Gamma Sigma Sigma
and then gentlemen of Tau Kappa Epsilon will be helping with the famous Beargrease race in Duluth, MN. We will help with
various things such as timing, check in, pit stops, crowd control, traffic control, etc.
***Mentor Duluth: There are over 200 children on the waiting list to receive a mentor.
Since being a mentor is a year-long commitment, many girls cannot dedicate their time to the program. With the PAL program
(providing adult leadership), we are able to spend time with the children who are on the waiting list, and give them great
opportunities with adults, without having to be a mentor. Once a month we will take the children on the waiting list out
for a project such as bowling, pumpkin carving, etc. Then gentlemen of Tau Kappa Epsilon and Alpha Phi Omega will be joining
us in these event, and hopefully some of us will find a good match and become an actual mentor! :)
***Super Sibs: Super Sibs is an organization created for siblings
of cancer patients. During the treatment process, the sibling is usually scared, alone, and left out. This program recognizes
those siblings and helps them realize that they are still very important. We make smile card for the siblings and send them
out a few times a year.
***YMCA Holiday Dinner: We pair up with the men of Alpha Phi Omega
and decorate the YMCA for their holiday dinner. We, and then serve food to the community members. Thought the event we also
help lead activities and an art project for the children. We take down and clean up the events as well.
***YMCA Healthy Kids Day: We set up for this fun event at the YMCA.
We lead carnival games in the Kid's Club, and run the snack station.
***Lion's Club Pancake Breakfast- This is a sticky but fun
project. Our girls and then men of Alpha Phi Omega mix,flip, and serve pancakes to hundreds of people for a fund raiser for
the lions club.
***Grandma's Marathon: Over the summer, the phis and sigs reunite for the famous Grandma's
Marathon. We man water stations and hand out water and energy drinks to the thousands of athletes competing in the race.
***ARC Northland- we do a few different projects
with ARC northland (association for retarded citizens). The first one we will do is the stationary bike race. Our members
will take turns pedaling a stationary bike and the team with the most mileage win! We will also be helping with set up and
take down of this event. The second event is called Death by chocolate. Community members makes homemade chocolate and we
box it up to be sold fundraiser. We always get to test it!!!!:)
National Service IMPACT ares: chronic diseases and eliminating hunger
